Mike Salerno, a film producer and director from Kalamazoo, Mich., is filming the early life of Edgar Bergen, the famed ventriloquist and humorist.

As part of the film, Salerno will soon visit Tryon to interview local novelist David Cudlip. Cudlip’s family enjoyed long-standing links with Bergen, who was a favorite on many American household radios in the 1930s and 40s.

The film-in-making, titled “Eddie in Decatur,” is scheduled for release this December. Decatur is a small town in southwestern Michigan where Bergen spent much of his youth and was befriended by country doctor William P. Bope.

Dr. Bope’s daughter, Lynwood, was David Cudlip’s mother.

Dr. Bope staked Bergen to an education at Northwestern University, but the books were set aside when the affable Swede discovered money awaited him by getting the wood-hewed Charlie McCarthy to make others laugh.

His reputation on the rise, Bergen was invited to perform at a soiree in New York that Elsa Maxwell was throwing for Noel Coward, the famed playwright. The next thing anyone knew, Bergen had vaulted into the ranks of NBC’s topmost radio performers. Soon Hollywood spotted him, and he chose to settle in sun-splashed California.

Meanwhile, Bergen had steadily corresponded with Cudlip’s mother, eventually asking for her hand in marriage, a plea quickly scotched by her parents who were uneasy over Bergen’s pursuit of a career in showbiz.

Cudlip’s film role will be an appearance to recount memories of his youth, tagging after Bergen whenever the famed ventriloquist returned to Decatur as well as watching his Sunday night NBC show: 30 minutes of rollicking sketches featuring Charlie McCarthy; Mortimer Snerd, the lunk-headed but endearing hayseed; and then the purring man-hungry Effie Klinker.

Edgar Bergen died in 1978, ending a 42-year career in radio, TV and films.

– article submitted by David Cudlip